Overview and future of rehabilitation of older people

Abstract

The history of rehabilitation of older people in the UK has evolved from the care of the poor by religious institutions in the Medieval era, and Poor Law provision in the Middle Ages. Demographic changes in the latter half of the 20th century have resulted in not only escalating numbers of older people, both indigenous and of ethnic minorities, but also their attendant health and social problems, their need for functional ability to remain independent, their rising expectations and the shortage of both formal and informal carers to meet these needs.